With a history of success that goes back decades, Frankfurt School is now one of Germany's leading business schools.
In 1957, Professor Dr. Karl Friedrich Hagenmüller and Dr. Reinhold Sellien founded Bankakademie e.V. (the Banking Academy) as an association. Initially, based on the Gabler-Verlag publishing house's premises in Wiesbaden, this organization would later become the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management. The academy's mission was to provide professional training to bank employees – an activity in which it swiftly set new standards.
In 1989, Bankakademie set up its own publishing house, primarily in order to distribute the association's regularly updated study materials. Since then, it has made a name for itself as a publisher specializing in financial topics.
Just one year later, in 1990, the institution took another significant step forward by founding its university. This was a logical response to the impressive growth of Germany's financial sector. Banking and finance were becoming more complex and global, while investment banking was rapidly gaining in importance.
Banks needed employees who, in addition to good banking knowledge, also possessed a solid grounding in economics and methodological skills and international experience.
The new university, the Hochschule für Bankwirtschaft (College of Banking) – usually abbreviated to HfB – met these needs and more by providing a degree in business administration. From the outset, the course included a compulsory semester abroad and training in a foreign language.
To start with, the university focused exclusively on bank employees. They would start their degree courses once they had completed their bank training, working part-time in parallel with their studies.
1992 saw the inception of the International Affairs unit, subsequently rechristened International Advisory Services (IAS). The unit's consultants and trainers managed development finance projects in emerging and developing nations. IAS swiftly earned a first-class reputation as a microfinance specialist in particular. Clients and partners included international donor organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and international finance companies. Until the concept was set up in April 2009, IAS also advised the fund management team at the European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE), the largest investment fund for SME finance and housing development in southeast Europe.
In 1995, the Corporate Programmes & Services unit was launched. In addition to open seminars, the unit offered companies in-house training programs and outsourcing and consulting services. The new business unit met a growing demand for seminars and training courses that delivered knowledge and skills in specific economic specialization areas. The unit also helped companies to fulfill their needs in all areas of professional development.
In 2000, following the Bologna Process's ratification, HB was one of the first universities in Germany to convert its degree courses to the favored Bachelor and Master formats. The range of degree programs on offer continues to expand steadily and now covers all finance and management areas.
2001 saw the creation of a subsidiary, effort AG, that focused primarily on designing e-learning tools for delivering banking and finance-related content. The Internet boom of the late 1990s had a direct impact on learning and study methods. E-learning elements were used to supplement classroom-style seminars and more conventional approaches based on textbooks and study materials.
Shortly after this, in 2003, the organization engaged in its first joint venture by acquiring a stake in the Shanghai International Banking & Finance Institute (SIBFI). Today, the Frankfurt School is the majority shareholder.
In 2004, HB gained the right to award doctorates to become a state-recognized university. The research side was expanded. The Doctoral Programme in Finance, Management & Accounting was launched. And the organization became steadily more international. Most Master's programs were now taught exclusively in English.
In early 2007, just in time to celebrate the institution's fiftieth anniversary, all the university's educational and advisory services were united under the umbrella of a new brand: Frankfurt School of Finance & Management.
During 2007, Frankfurt School also absorbed vbb – Vereinigung für Bankberufsbildung e. V. (Association for Professional Bank Training), in the process combining the experience and skills of two of the German finance industry's longest-serving educational and advisory institutions.
In April 2009, Frankfurt School transferred all management and consulting activities aimed at funds specializing in development finance to a dedicated subsidiary: ConCap Connective Capital.
Frankfurt School's Finance Department is one of the biggest centers for economic research in Germany.
The emphasis in research and teaching is on Banking, Corporate Finance, Mergers & Acquisitions, Risk Management, Financial Regulation, Asset and Liquidity Management, Quantitative Finance, and Development Finance. Members of the finance department publish in leading finance journals, including the Journal of Finance, the Review of Financial Studies, and the Journal of Financial Economics, and frequently present their research at leading international finance conferences.
The department is very internationally oriented, with many of its faculty members have worked at leading international business schools such as Wharton, INSEAD, LSE or Oxford. Members of the department teach in Frankfurt School's Bachelor, Master, and Doctoral Programmes. A strong network and connections with the financial industry and central banks guarantee significant contributions to topical issues in finance.
